The initial model

The first two objectives of my study are to identify the contextual factors affecting the development of DLE in Vietnam, and to explain how those factors are affecting the development. Based on parts of the theories of Fullan (2007), Nowlen (1988) and Rogers (2003) and elements from the literature review, I identified a range of factors that I adapted for inclusion in the study. These factors are presented in Table 3 - The factors adapted for inclusion in the initial model.

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Table 3: The factors adapted for inclusion in the initial model

Factors from the literature review

Factors affecting educational change (Fullan,

2007) Factors affecting continuing education (Nowlen, 1988) Factors affecting Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers, 2003 )

Adapted factors for inclusion in the initial model

The involvement in developing DLE of LIM schools, LIM

associations and scholars

Stakeholders and their characteristics:

 Teachers, principals, students, district

administration, community

Stakeholders and their characteristics

 LIM lecturers, LIM

practitioners/students, LIM managers, LIM deans, LIM professional bodies, and agencies.

Educational change in Vietnam, the

development of digital libraries

Need for educational change Update needs; new roles

preparation DLE needs

Funding and policies of the Vietnamese government

Government and other agencies

 Policies, funding, laws

Influence of environments and cultures of practice: social and cultural values, economic system, features of work place

The environment

 Social/cultural values

 Economic conditions

 The government - its policies/funding

The complexity of DLE

Characteristics of change  needs, clarity, complexity, quality/practicality Characteristics of innovation: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability Characteristics of DLE  clarity, complexity, quality/practicality Personal/Organisational development balance

Personal and organisational development balance Researchers and

educators of LIM study the development of DLE

External change agents of

education change Change agents’ roles Change agents of DLE development

Digital library profession

New roles preparation, Critical skill of mind, applied human relations, life skills

Digital library profession

59 The factors adapted from the theories were grouped into seven categories:

 Stakeholders and their characteristics: LIM practitioners/students, LIM lecturers, LIM deans, LIM managers, LIM professional bodies, and external change agencies.

 DLE needs: DLE needs of LIM practitioners, LIM organisations and LIM educators.

 The environment: social and culture values, economic conditions, and the government policies and funding.

 Characteristics of DLE: clarity, complexity, quality/practicality

 Personal and organisational development balance: the balance between the benefits of professional development for individuals and for their organisations. The nexus between LIM practitioners and LIM organisations; the nexus between LIM lecturers and LIM educational institutions.

 Change agents: roles and characteristics of change agents and factors affecting their success.

 Digital library profession: knowledge and skills required for LIM practitioners and LIM educators

The study's third objective is to develop, test and, if necessary, revise a model of the contextual factors. Using the factors adapted from the three theories and the literature review I developed a simple initial modelwhich acted primarily as a framework to guide me in decisions related to answering the first two research questions. The initial model included the potential contextual factors affecting DLE development in Vietnam, which I separated into internal factors (existing inside the educational system) and external factors (which come from the external environment of the educational system). I assumed that many of these factors would interact with and affect each other, and some would have a stronger influence than others.

Figure 7 provides the initial model of potential factors affecting the development of DLE in Vietnam.

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Figure 7: The initial model of potential factors affecting the development of DLE in Vietnam

In the following sections I explain the factors identified as potentially affecting the development of DLE in Vietnam.

Internal factors

I considered the internal factors to be those closest to the core of DLE development - for example, the stakeholders with the closest ties to the services and resources needed for digital libraries, and the DLE needs identified by those stakeholders. The internal factors were:

Stakeholders and their characteristics

Fullan (2007) contended that internal as well external stakeholders contribute to educational change. I identified the internal stakeholders in this study to be the LIM practitioners/students, LIM educators, LIM leaders such as the deans of LIM educational institutions and the managers of libraries, LIM professional bodies (associations) and others with an interest in or concern related to DLE development. (I regarded the government to be an external stakeholder due to its overarching power across the LIM

Digital library education Digital library profession Government Policies/funds Social/cultural values External factors Internal factors Stakeholders’ characteristics Change agents Characteristics of DLE Economic conditions Personal and organisational development balance DLE Needs

61 environment, which I discuss below). For the purposes of this study, I needed to investigate the characteristics and roles of the various stakeholders in DLE development. I identified the internal stakeholders to be as follows:

LIM practitioners/students are the learners who should be at the centre of educational

activities. Their characteristics in this model were seen as learning needs, attitudes, basic knowledge and skills, and aspirations and motivations, all of which potentially affect the objectives, content, format and methods of DLE.

LIM educators (lecturers) are the educational providers. Because LIM lecturers need to

understand the importance of DLE and to act as advocates for its development, their attitudes were considered to be crucial for the development of DLE in Vietnam.

LIM leaders (LIM managers and deans) are the directors of libraries and heads of LIM

educational programmes. They are the key decision makers who represent their organisations in internal as well as external discussions relating to issues pertinent to the need for DLE, and therefore affect its development. As a result, LIM leaders were considered stakeholders whose perspectives were important for this study.

LIM professional bodies are the LIM associations in Vietnam. They work with the

professional community to identify the knowledge and skills required for LIM practitioners and LIM education providers. I perceived them to be a bridge connecting LIM professional practices and LIM education, and therefore to be an important stakeholder.

Other stakeholders include other individuals or organisations with an interest or concern

related to DLE development. I considered these to be the university administrations which fund academic departments and programmes, and private companies involved in providing or developing DL products and services for libraries. I also remained open to including any additional stakeholders that might be discovered during the research process.

Needs for digital library education

Understanding the needs for DLE was considered vital for this research. As noted in Section 3.1.2, Fullan (2007) recognised that successful educational change not only requires identification of the needs, it also requires formal recognition of those needs. By

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identifying the knowledge and skills that organisations require to provide DL resources and services, and that LIM practitioners must acquire, it then becomes possible to determine the content for DLE as well as the attitudes of important stakeholders about the importance of those needs.

Characteristics of DLE: clarity, complexity, quality/practicality

In this research, DLE was viewed as an innovation in LIM education being introduced into Vietnam, and the development of DLE was seen as a change process. Therefore, identifying the characteristics of DLE was considered important for decision making in the initiation phase when the development of DLE was being contemplated, and for the implementation phase when it would be put into practice. This factor, as might be expected, is closely related to the previous factor, DLE needs. It is through the understanding of DLE needs that the characteristics of DLE become clear. And with clarity, it is easier for potential providers and adopters to conceptualise what DLE involves, to determine how complex it will be to develop and provide, and to decided how practical it will be in terms of the resources needed to achieve a high quality outcome. Fullan (2007) pointed out that "lack of clarity - diffuse goals and unspecified means of implementation – represents a major problem at the implementation stage…" (p. 89). Thus, understanding the characteristics of DLE was considered important for this research.

Personal and organisational development balance

According to H.S. Nguyen (2008), the nexus of personal and organisational needs plays an important role in CPE development. Similarly for this study, I considered that if the needs for DLE of the practitioners and their organisations were balanced, the performance of both would be improved and therefore DLE would be considered to be of greater value. Thus understanding the nexus between the two would be an important component of my study.

Digital library profession

This factor refers to members of the profession who are referred to as digital librarians, and in particular the competencies they must have to perform their roles. The body of professional knowledge and competencies of digital librarians identified in the literature is discussed in Section 2.2. In the context of the DL profession in New Zealand, the

63 competencies have to be determined in relation to the LIM practitioners, LIM organisations and professional bodies such as the Vietnam Library Association.

External factors

I considered the external factors to be those that were contextual with the potential to affect the development of DLE. These factors included the social/cultural values in Vietnam, the current economic situation, and the government policies and funding.

Social and cultural values

The social and cultural values in Vietnam were considered relevant because they affect what a society perceives to be important in terms of the educational needs of individuals and organisations (Nowlen, 1988). H.S. Nguyen (2008), for example, found that social and cultural values affected Vietnamese society's views of library work, which ultimately affected library practitioners' choices for professional development.

Economic conditions

The economic conditions affect the pace of development including technological development and educational development within a country. Thus the economic conditions in Vietnam would very likely affect the development of DLE and were therefore considered a part of the external environment.

Government

In Section 1.6 I identified the Library Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) as having responsibility for governing libraries and information centres in terms of professional and technical standards, and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) for governing the curricula and quality of education of LIM schools. Other government agencies also have responsibilities that affect LIM education. The government is therefore a key external stakeholder with the potential to affect a range of areas relevant to the development of DLE education.

Change agents

I identified the potential change agents in this research as the stakeholders who were influencing the development and introduction of DLE into LIM education in Vietnam. I

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considered managers, deans, practitioners, and educators as well as their organisations as possible change agents who were among the internal factors, and government officials and their organisations as potential change agents among the external factors. It was necessary to identify who the change agents were, what their actual roles were in DLE development, and factors that were affecting their success.

3.3 Conclusion

In this chapter, I have outlined the theoretical component of my study. I explained that I viewed DLE as an innovation whose development would lead to a change in LIM education in Vietnam. Based on the literature review and theoretical frameworks of Fullan, Nowlen and Rogers, I developed an initial model of potential factors affecting DLE development to help me develop the research methodology needed to answer the research questions.

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